The present invention relates to measuring and testing equipment for semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs), and in particular to those devices which mount an IC and perform measuring and testing utilizing a measurement handler socket provided with probes which are brought into contact with outer leads arranged around the periphery of the IC mounting to achieve conduction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor integrated circuits (semiconductor devices) are subjected to various function tests after manufacture, using a measurement handler. The structures of conventional IC measuring and testing devices are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, of which FIG. 1 is a perspective view while FIG. 2 is a side view. As shown in these drawings, a mold-receiving base 2 is provided in the central portion of a measurement handler socket (hereinafter referred to simply as a socket) 1. This mold-receiving base 2 corresponds to the shape of the mold body 5 of the IC 4 to be measured, for example a rectangular shape, and guide members 7 for guiding the mold body 5 are formed in the four sides of the rectangle.
The IC 4 to be measured comprises the mold body 5 which has a top surface (upper surface) 5a and a bottom surface (lower surface) 5b, with a plurality of outer leads 6 provided protruding from the four edge surfaces around the periphery of the mold body 5. Each outer leads 6 protrudes horizontally form the edge of the mold body 5 to form a shoulder portion 6a at its root portion, is bent downward therefrom, and is then bent horizontally again at its end to form a leg portion 6b.
A plurality of probes 3 are provided at the peripheries of the four sides of the mold-receiving base 2 and corresponding to the outer leads 6 of the IC 4. The mold-receiving base 2 is mounted on a substrate 9 via a spring 12.
The IC 4 to be measured is suction-supported by a suction arm 11 for handling, such as a vacuum chuck or the like, on the top surface 5a thereof, is lowered onto the mold-receiving base 2 in the direction of the arrow A, the bottom surface 5b of the mold body 5 is guided in the direction of arrow B along the guide member 7, and thereby the IC 4 is set into the socket 1.
FIGS. 3A to 3E are explanatory diagrams of the procedures of an IC measuring and testing method of the related art. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the suction-supported IC 4 whose top surface 5a is raised by the suction arm 11 is aligned in a position sufficiently close to the mold-receiving base 2 above the socket 1 by an image processing or other suitable positioning means. There the vacuum of the suction arm 11 is released and the IC 4 is dropped into place. By this means, as shown in FIG. 3B, the mold body 5 of the IC 4 is seated and supported within the guide member 7 surrounding the mold-receiving base 2. In this state the end horizontal portions (leg portions) 6b of the outer leads 6 of the IC 4 are in a non-contact state separated from above the probes 3.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, contactors 10 are lowered to push down the leg portions 6b of the outer leads 6 of the IC 4 against the resistance of the spring 12, thus causing the outer leads 6 to contact and obtain conduction with the corresponding probes 3. In this state, predetermined measuring and testing can be performed on the IC 4 by a measuring and testing circuit (not shown) connected thereto via the terminals 3a of the probes 3.
Upon completion of the predetermined measuring and testing and acquisition of desired measurement data, the contactors 10 are raised and separated from the outer leads 6 as shown in FIG. 3D, by which means the outer leads 6 are separated from the probes 3. Subsequently, the suction arm 11 is lowered to suction-support the top surface 5a of the mold body 5 of the IC 4 and then raised, extracting the IC 4 from the mold-receiving base 2 as shown in FIG. 3E and transferred it to the next process.
However, in the IC measuring and testing method by means of a conventional measurement handler as described above, the outer leads 6 of the IC 4 can strike against the guide members 7 of the socket 1 when the IC 4 is set in the socket 1 due to slight alignment errors or inconsistencies in the outer dimensions of the IC, leading to the possibility of deformation of the leads. This is likely to occur particularly in cases where the IC itself is large and has many pins or where the leads are miniaturized.